Life + Faith – joncoombs.com

Tag: Devotional

  • More Than Anger

    What do you get angry about?

    Is it after hearing the news of the day and all that is going on in our world? Is it while driving and you must let other road users know about it? Is it when your footy team loses or circumstance or other people?

    Jonah has just watched the entire city of Ninevah repent. As a result God relents from the judgements he planned and Jonah is so angry about it.

    You’d think he’d be pleased, wouldn’t you? It’s a successful ministry in my book, a whole city turning away from evil and toward God! Yet, Jonah is angry. Very angry.

    In Jonah 4:1-2, we read:

    But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, ‘Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.’

    This book is full of irony, and here is a great example of it again. Jonah wasn’t running away from God the first time because he was worried he would fail, he was running away because of his fear of success! He knew God was merciful, but he did not want Ninevah to receive that mercy.

    Jonah goes and sits outside the city and again God provides for him, this time in the form of a plant. It gives shade to Jonah and he is well pleased. God then provides a worm and the plant withers and Jonah’s ridiculous response is again anger, so much so that he wants to die all over a plant!

    So, God asks him a question to try and get some sense into him. God asks,

    “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

    “It is,” says Jonah. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

    God’s response to Jonah is gentle but it cuts to the heart of the irony and what’s going on here. Jonah cared about the plant, which he neither planted or looked after, which appeared and then disappeared. Should God not care then for a city of 120,000 people!?

    We aren’t told Jonah’s response. Perhaps he didn’t have an answer. The book ends here and there is no resolution to the question. What we’re left with is that question hanging, which is addressed to us just as much as it is to Jonah.

    Are we genuinely concerned for the people God is concerned for? Or are we more invested in our own comfort, our own shade, than in the mercy God extends to others?

    The anger we hold reveals what we value. Jonah’s anger revealed his heart shaped by nationalistic pride than divine compassion.

    The question for us is whether our hearts look more like God’s or more like Jonah’s.

    For Reflection:

    1.     What does your anger tend to reveal about what you truly value? Is there a place where your priorities need to align more closely with God’s?

    2.     Is there a group of people that you find it difficult to want God’s mercy for? What might it look like to bring that before Him?

  • More Than A Second Chance

    “Can I have another go?” is an often-used phrase in our house when we’re playing games. Whether it’s darts, chess, or a card game, this phrase is used in hope by one of our kids after they’ve realised they could’ve made a better decision. They want a second chance at it.

    Jonah gets a second chance, which we read of in Jonah 3:1-2,

    Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’

    Notice it was not, “Jonah got himself together.” Nor was it, “Jonah decided it was time.” But it was for the second time, “…then word of the Lord came to Jonah.” God speaks again. God initiates again. The mission Jonah ran from the first time is offered again. There is no change to the mission. It’s the same city, the same message, and the same calling. And this time Jonah goes.

    Jonah walks into Ninevah and delivers the message that the Lord has given him. It’s only eight words long, “Forty more days and Ninevah will be overthrown.” That’s it. The entire sermon. No explanation. No illustration. No application. It is quite an amazing scene.

    The result of this message is that the city repents. The king gets off his throne and sits in dust. There is a decree issued for humans and animals to fast and cry out to God. The message of the Lord has had an impact on the city.

    And God relents.

    In contrast to Israel, God’s own people, here is a pagan city who turn toward Him. God’s own people continue to rebel and refuse to repent are outdone by the Ninevites.

    This passage reminds us that God is the God of second chances. There’s a second chance for Jonah, for Ninevah, and for us. The call God gives to us in our lives doesn’t expire the moment we fail to answer it. He calls again and again and again, offering us a second chance at life, love, and hope.

    It also challenges our expectation of who can be transformed through responding to the message of God. Ninevah was the last city anyone would expect to repent, but God is always at work in the places our human minds have given up on.

    The gift of the second chance is for us!

    For Reflection:

    1.     Is there an area of your own life where you need to receive God’s second chance? Are you open to accepting God’s invitation into what you may have been avoiding?

    2.     Is there a person or situation you have mentally written off? How does the repentance of Nineveh challenge that assumption?

  • More Than A Prayer

    I suspect most of us know what it’s like to pray when we’re in a panic.

    That crisis moment when we receive a phone call with bad news, the family member requiring urgent help, the conflict and crisis at work. In these moments prayer comes quickly and easily. We reach for God because we know we can’t reach for anything else.

    Jonah is in one of these moments, praying on the inside of a big fish, like clutching for a wall in the dark.

    In Jonah 2:1-2, we read:

    From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

    What follows is a poem, a psalm, a prayer of help and hope.

    Jonah uses the language of the Psalms to describe being cast into the deep. He even talks of the literal currents swirling and the seaweed wrapped around his head. It might not be the valley of the shadow of death, but it’s certain the belly of the shadow of darkness. He’s as low as a person can go.

    And it is in this event that God hears.

    Notice that Jonah’s prayer is not confession. Nor is it total repentance. He doesn’t say, “I’m sorry I ran”. He doesn’t repent of the disobedience to the call of God. He thanks God for saving his life, but there is still some deep work of the heart to come.

    When we need rescuing it’s easy to call on God. It’s hard to come to Him when things are calm, settled, and stable; when there’s no crisis to drive us to our knees.

    In v9 we read the heart of the chapter: “Salvation comes from the LORD.” 

    This is a declaration of faith. Jonah is aware of where his rescue comes from. The question is whether he will allow that same salvation to transform his heart that first ran away from the Lord.

    Prayer, in any moment, is a good place to start. But God wants more than crisis prayers. He wants ongoing conversation, connection, and worship. He loves for us to come to Him, to daily turn to Him in all things. Are we honest enough of where we are and how we are react to be open to God’s work in us?

    In the end the Lord sets Jonah’s feet back on solid ground, which He also does for us when we call on Him.

    For Reflection:

    1.     Do you tend to pray more in crisis than in calm? What might it look like to foster a more consistent conversation with God?

    2.     Is there something in your heart that you have not yet brought honestly before God?

  • More Than Running Away

    Jonah is full of humour if we’re on the lookout for it. And in the first chapter we find one of those funny moments being when Jonah thinks he can run from God.

    It’s funny.

    Jonah legitimately thinks he can flee from God, that he can outrun God. God tells him to go east to Ninevah, but instead Jonah heads west to Tarshish. He finds a ship, he pays that fare, he goes below deck. Jonah is so committed to running away that he falls asleep while a storm threatens to break up the ship.

    In Jonah 1:3, we read:

    But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

    What is of particular interest here in chapter 1 is the contrast between Jonah and the sailors. These are pagan men, they worship various gods, and they begin crying out to them the moment the storm hits. These men are terrified, but they are also sincere. They recognise the spiritual while God’s own prophet is asleep!

    The sailors end up throwing Jonah overboard; after discovering he is the source of their trouble, but very reluctantly. They evidently fear the Lord as they make sacrifices and vows to him. It’s quite amazing really, their pagan sailors become worshippers of Yahweh despite the sleepy reluctant prophet. Jonah was running away from sharing the message God wanted him to share to heathens in Ninevah but ends up drawing these sailors toward Him.

    God has a way of working around our resistance and defiance.

    There is something to reflect on here. How often do we resemble Jonah more than the sailors? These sailors had no scripture, no tradition, and no covenant with God. Yet, when that moment came for them, they cried out, paid attention to the Lord, and responded. Jonah had all these things, but he ran.

    Running from God isn’t just blatant disobedience. It can occur in quiet ways; that prayer we put off, the conversation we avoid, that step of obedience we keep meaning to take. We find ourselves running in all sorts of directions.

    The good news in this chapter is not that the storm is stilled, it is that God is sovereign over all of it. He is sovereign over the storm, the sailors, and the fish that is in the water.

    God doesn’t abandon His mission because the messenger runs from it, nor does he abandon us when we run too.

    For Reflection:

    1.     In what area of your life have you been sleeping through the storm rather than responding to what God might be saying?

    2.     What might it look like to take one step back toward God this week, rather than continuing to head in the opposite direction?

  • More Than A Mission You Can Refuse

    There is something rather Mission Impossible about the book of Jonah. You can vibe God saying, “Your mission, Jonah, should you choose to accept it, is to go and share my message with the Ninevites.”

    In Jonah 1:2, God calls Jonah to share what all prophets of God are to share, the message of God:

    “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

    For those of us who know the rest of the story, or can catch up by reading the rest of chapter 1, we know that this is not what Jonah does. Instead, Jonah flees. He wants to get as far away from Nineveh as he can, and away from the Lord’s presence, by running away in the opposite direction.

    When we sense danger around us we tend to stop, turn around, and flee from whatever that danger might be. Here Jonah is doing the same thing. He is turning and fleeing in the opposite direction to what God wants him to be doing. He doesn’t want anything to do with the mission that God has for him.

    There’s something understandable for us in this. We don’t always follow God’s instruction, nor take the steps forward into the calling God has for us. This can be as simple as avoiding taking the step to follow him completely, to ignoring the explicit truth and teaching of his Word, to turning back to sin that we enjoy.

    Now, the time in which Jonah receives this call is when Assyria is one of Israel’s most hated opponents. Assyria are the superpower of the day, and there is no love lost between them and God’s people the Israelites. One reason Jonah is no doubt reluctant to even go to Nineveh is because he hates the people. His nationalism for God’s people is so ingrained in who he is as a prophet and person of God. Yet here is the Lord calling him to go to people who are his enemies, to go and give them a message and see if they will repent and believe.

    This mission that the Lord gives Jonah is quite extraordinary. It highlights just how much God has concern for all people, not just his own chosen people. God’s care and compassion isn’t for a select few, it’s not for a holy enclave of people who keep to themselves, but it is for all. As 1 Timothy 2:4 reminds us, we worship a God who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

    God’s heart is for all to come to know him.

    This call of Jonah to the Ninevites foreshadows the commission and promise Jesus gives his disciples in Acts 1:8, that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit and be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The mission that made Jonah run is the same mission Jesus gives to his people.

    Unfortunately, we can be so taken up by what we are doing ourselves, among our own Christian cohort, that we forget the mission of God is to others. It takes effort, intentionality, and compassion for others to go and share the message of Jesus. But it’s not about us, it’s about God and his love, grace, and concern for all.

    Let’s not forget the mission of God, which each of us are called to as his disciples.

    For Reflection:

    1.     Where in your life are you currently running away from something God might be calling you toward?

    2.     What would it look like for you to take one intentional step toward someone outside your usual Christian circle this week?

  • Christmas 2025: Jesus

    Jesus – Luke 2:41–52

    We have citrus trees along the side of our house. Four years ago we planted them. They are still in the juvenile stage, growing taller and taller each season. It’s a slow process and will take another few years before they produce any fruit.

    Before Jesus preaches and begins His ministry of healing, teaching, miracles, and calling followers, we read of Him doing something very ordinary – learning. Here we get that picture of a student, asking questions, listening, and sitting among teachers. Even Jesus, the Son of God, takes part in that slow work of growth before going about producing anything.

    It’s quite a simple story. Jesus doesn’t perform any wonders or reveal Himself to others. What He is doing is growing in wisdom, stature, and favour with God and the people (v52). This is a time of formation for Jesus. And if Jesus required it, then perhaps we too might need to do the same.

    Growth doesn’t happen overnight, it’s often gradual, unnoticed, and uncomfortable. Yet God uses these seasons to shape us, to humble us, and provide us with wisdom and patience for the road ahead. Luke’s inclusion of this story reminds us that we are being formed through those unseen and ordinary years.

    It’s like learning a new musical instrument, having to practice and practice and practice when no one is looking. It’s like moving through adolescence, discovering who we are, what our purpose is, and where we belong. As someone once said, growth is like outgrowing old shoes; it’s awkward, slightly painful, but necessary.

    We often want instant results, instant transformation, but discipleship takes time.

    Ask God to highlight one area where He wants you to grow this season. Is it patience, courage, compassion, humility, wisdom, rest? Something else perhaps? Take one small step this week in that direction.

    Where might God be inviting you to lean into slow, steady growth this Christmas?

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.

  • Christmas 2025: Simeon

    Simeon – Luke 2:21–38

    Waiting is quite painful, isn’t it? It’s painful because we want answers now. We want things to happen right away. We want to know or see things happen in our own timing, not in the patient and enduring time of the Lord.

    Simeon’s life was shaped around a promise that was slow to arrive. To be fair, he’s not passive about it, he is attentive to what God might be doing. He waits with hope.

    We might know this kind of experience ourselves. Waiting stretches us, it teaches us, and in the course of waiting that which we genuinely hope for is often revealed.

    When Simeon finally sees Jesus, he is full of thankfulness and gratitude. He isn’t relieved, he doesn’t make a big scene, and there is certainly no big announcement by this old gentleman. Rather, he is worshipful. He praises and blesses God for the kindness in allowing him to see the Christ child (v29-32). This song, the Nunc Dimittis, affirms God’s timing, knowing it is never late and never rushed. Simeon shows us the kind of faith that doesn’t demand answers from God but trusts the God who knows them.

    This short story of Simeon is a great reminder that God is at work even in the seasons that feel awfully slow.

    He’s like the grandparent who has prayed for their family for decades, faithful in giving over to God what is His and trusting that in His good timing He will fulfil His word.  

    Waiting is part of our Christian life, our Christian experience. Can you think of one area in your life where you are waiting? Lift it up to God each day this week.

    How might God be shaping you through the waiting rather than simply delivering what you long for?

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.

  • Christmas 2025: The Shepherds

    The Shepherds – Luke 2:1–20

    Ah, the shepherds. Those who go unnoticed, seem unimportant, and are largely invisible. Their work, of course, is constant. It’s dirty work. It doesn’t win them any points on the social scale. No one would be expecting God to speak through these guys, but that’s exactly what happens.

    This announcement to the shepherds by the angels is dramatic. God chooses the last group anyone would think to invite, shepherds working the overnight shift. And in such a moment the shepherds sing Gloria in Excelsis, not to kings, or those in power, or the influencers of the day, but for the people who never made it to the temple. They sing for those who are overlooked, responding to this announcement of good news with great joy and wonder there in v14, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased”.

    Isn’t this a reminder that the gospel is meant to be received with fresh eyes and a ready heart? Doesn’t this give us a quiet correction to our assumptions about who God uses and who He seeks to draw close?

    It’s like the late-night cleaner in the large office building in the city. It’s like the nurse on night shift who cares for patients while the rest of us are asleep. It’s like that parent that wakes early, while its still dark, to prepare the school lunches. These are people we may walk past without noticing. These are the people who persevere with resilience and quiet strength. These are the people who, if announced in our day, would hear this good news first.

    Make a point this week to notice someone you usually overlook. Might it be the barista, the cleaner of the toilets at your local shopping centre, the crossing supervisor at school, or the bus driver? Offer a word of thanks, gratitude, or encouragement.

    Who around you might be waiting for the simple reminder that God sees them?

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.

  • Christmas 2025: Zechariah

    Zechariah – Luke 1:56–80

    No matter how long you’ve been a follower of Jesus there seems to always be a way for doubt to sneak in. Here in the story of Zechariah we read about a sliver of doubt that that brings change. Zechariah is not a faithless character, he’s a man who has spent years praying, serving, waiting, and longing for God. Perhaps life had taken a toll by this point, perhaps hope was wearing a little thin for him. We don’t know, but what we do know is that when the angel appears with this unbelievable news, he doesn’t fully trust it. There is a quiet doubt that sits there.

    In response to this doubt God does not dismiss him. He doesn’t replace him with someone else full of faith and life. No, His response is to put him into silence. Nine months of silence. Unable to speak. Can you imagine?

    This isn’t punishment though; it is more about formation. It gives Zechariah the chance to reset. It gives him a chance to listen to God again. When Zechariah’s voice returns it isn’t a soft, fragile, or timid voice. It is now strong, full of praise from the resultant faithfulness he has seen in God. His song, in v68-79, is clear, full of conviction and hope. He has a new vision of God that brings worship and praise.

    This is an encouragement to anyone who has a spiritual flat tyre. This is a message for those of us who continually wake spiritually tired even though we’ve been getting enough sleep. It’s like the car that goes and goes but eventually runs out of petrol and can’t go anymore. The key is to fill up, to reset, to rest in God and allow Him to speak into our well-worn heart.

    Take five minutes of silence today. No words. No lists. No phone. No expectations. Just be still in God’s presence. Allow Him to speak to you. Just be in Him.

    Where might God be using frustration, fatigue, or doubt to draw you into greater trust?

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.

  • Christmas 2025: Mary

    Christmas often arrives with equal parts excitement and pressure. We’re surrounded by familiar songs, familiar expectations, and familiar busyness, yet underneath it all sits an invitation from God.

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.

    During our services we will explore each passage more fully, but in these devotionals, I hope we will see how our story intersects with each of the characters of the narrative. They remind us that God doesn’t wait for perfect conditions or give much thought to impressive resumes or extraordinary strength and power. Instead, God works through ordinary, unvarnished, and fragile human lives.

    These devotionals are an invitation for us to pace ourselves this Christmas and remind us that the same grace that shaped those in the Christmas story is the same grace that continues to shape us.

    Mary – Luke 1:39–55

    When we least expect it, we often find God at work. Mary is a very ordinary girl, living in a very ordinary town, one that’s never made the travel bucket list of anyone, ever. But God arrives at her doorstep, with a calling that would change the rest of history. She doesn’t feel ready, she hasn’t been rehearsing for this moment, yet her response is remarkable. A response that shows courage and trust in the confusion.

    Mary’s song is a song from the heart, with evident joy and wonder from what she has just been told. She praises God’s power, mercy, and faithfulness, stepping into a future that is unknown and will make life complicated for her. Any plans Mary had are now disrupted, with more questions than answers at this point.

    Mary’s faith is an honest faith though. There is uncertainty, but she is still able to say in v38, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” What faith! And what an approach to take as disciples of God in Christ. Mary surrenders not knowing how everything will turn out, but she is trusting in the One who does.

    Mary’s place in Scripture reminds us that God doesn’t outsource His plans to the impressive. He gives His kingdom work to people who feel small and unimposing. People like her. People like us.

    Mary’s experience is certainly unique, but she is like the new mother who realises they are now responsible for far more than they imagined. She’s like the graduate teacher who is given a class she’s not sure she can handle. It’s that moment when responsibility arrives and confidence needs to catch up.

    It is in this space where God often does His finest shaping.

    This week, begin each day using Mary’s words as a basis for prayer, “Lord, let your word shape my life today”. This isn’t a task to get done, it’s a way of opening our day to God’s leading.

    Where might God be inviting you to offer Him a hesitant but faithful ‘Yes’ this Christmas?